Filter

A filter is an entity by which you want to filter the products. The filter settings depend on which type of filter you are going to use.

General Fields

NameDescription
Filter TitleGive a title to the filter that will appear before the filter options.
Filter TypeDetermines the type of entity by which the products will be filtered. It can be Taxonomy, Price, Rating, Product Status, Post Author, Post Meta, Sort By, and Per Page.
Meta KeyIf the filter type is Post Meta, select the Meta Key for which values will be available as filter options.
Value TypeIf the filter type is Post Meta, select the Value Type for the Meta Key. Available options are Text, Number, and Date.
Filter KeyThe unique key that will be used in the URL. Only a-z, 0-9, “_” and “-” symbols are supported.

Filter Type

A filter type is the type of entity by which the products will be filtered. For the post-meta filter, you need to specify the meta key and value type.

The filter type can not be changed once it is saved. But you can permanently delete the filter and add a new one.

You can’t use the same “Filter Type” value multiple times in a form except for the components Active Filters, Reset Button, and Results Count.

Filter Key

A filter key is a unique key that identifies the filter. When you apply a filter, you will see this in the URL with a filter value. Suppose you have a filter to filter the products by color in which you might want the filter key to be color. After you apply the filter, you will see something like www.site.com/shop/?color=blue in the URL.

You can’t use the same filter key for multiple entities. It means the filters with the same “Filter Type” value will have the same filter key. Once a filter key is set, you can not change it from the filter. Go to WCAPF > Settings > Filter Keys page to change the filter key.

Appearance Fields

NameDescription
DisplayDetermines the display type of filter options in the front end.
LayoutDetermines the layout of the filter options in the front end.
ColumnsDetermines the number of columns for the grid layout.
Multiple SelectionDetermines if the user can select multiple options when filtering products.
Query TypeOR: products that matched any option, AND: products that have both options.
All Items LabelChange the default option label. Leave blank to use the default label.
Show hierarchyWhether to show the filter options as hierarchical.
Enable hierarchy accordionWhether to enable accordion for the hierarchy filter options.
Show countWhether to show the product count in filter options.
Enable tooltipDisplay additional information in a tooltip when users hover over the option.
Tooltip positionDetermines on which side the tooltip will be placed.
Count in tooltipEnable this to show the product count in the tooltip.
Enable swatchesShould the filter options be displayed using color/image swatches?
Swatch typeSelect the swatch type, color, or image.
Swatch with labelEnable this to display the label beside the swatch.
Display slider values asDetermines how the slider values will be shown in the front end.
Input type numberEnable this to hide units and display them as spinbox with up and down arrows.
Date Display FormatDetermines how the date will be displayed in the front end.
Inline Date InputsWhether to show the date input fields in a single line.
Use dropdown for MonthWhether to show the month dropdown in the date picker.
Use dropdown for YearWhether to show the year dropdown in the date picker.

“Display slider values as” and “Date Display Format” fields are available when the value type is Number.

“Date Display Format”, “Inline Date Inputs”, “Use dropdown for Month”, and “Use dropdown for Year” fields are available when the value type is Date.

Display

The value of the “Display” field defines how you want to show the filters in the front end. The available options depend on the Filter Type.

For the taxonomy filter, you can show the terms in Checkbox, Radio, Select, Multiselect, Label. You can also enable Color/Image Swatches for taxonomy filter options.

For the Price filter or Post Meta(value type Number) filter, available options are Range – Slider, Range – Number, Range – Checkbox, Range – Radio, Range – Select, Range – Multiselct, and Range – Label.

For the value type Date filter which is a pro feature, available options are Input – Date, Input – Date Range, Time Period – Checkbox, Time Period – Radio, Time Period – Select, Time Period – Multiselct, and Time Period – Label.

Layout

You can specify the design of the filter options by defining the Layout. The Layout setting is only available when the value of the “Display Type” field is any of these: Checkbox, Radio, Label.

The available options for the “Layout” field are List, Inline, and Grid. For the grid layout, you can specify the number of columns between 1 to 12.

Multiple Selection

For Label, Color Swatch, and Image Swatch display types, you can enable the setting Multiple Selection. If it is enabled, the users will be able to filter the products by selecting multiple options in the same filter.

Options Fields

NameDescription
Get OptionsDetermines whether you want the options to be obtained automatically or if you prefer to add them manually.
Order BySelect the criteria by which you want the items to be ordered.
Order DirectionWhether to order options in ascending or descending order.
Limit OptionsLimit the filter options.
Terms to includeSelect the terms that will be available to filter by.
Terms to excludeSelect the terms that will be excluded from the filter by options.
Parent TermSelect the parent term for which child terms will be available as filter options.
Authors to includeSelect the authors that will be available to filter by.
Authors to excludeSelect the authors that will be excluded from the filter by options.
Author RolesSelect the roles; matched authors must have at least one of these roles.
Auto-detect min and maxWhether to detect the min and max values from the database.
Min ValueThe minimum value that a user can select.
Max ValueThe maximum value that a user can select.
StepDetermines the size of the increment amount.
GapDetermines the gap between the ranges.
Value PrefixThis should be used for the unit, space(s) allowed. Example: $
Value PostfixThis should be used for the unit, space(s) allowed. Example: €
Values SeparatorText to appear between the min and max values, space(s) allowed. Example: –
Format NumbersEnable this if you want to format the numbers.
From PrefixText to appear before the From field.
From PostfixText to appear after the From field.
From PlaceholderThe placeholder text to appear for the From field.
To PrefixText to appear before the To field.
To PostfixText to appear after the To field.
To PlaceholderThe placeholder text to appear for the To field.

Authors to include, Authors to exclude, and Author Roles are available for the post-author filter.

Auto-detect min and max, Min Value, Max Value, Step, Gap, Value Prefix, Value Postfix, Values Separator, and Format Numbers are available for the Price filter and Post Meta(value type Text) filter.

From Prefix, From Postfix, From Placeholder, To Prefix, To Postfix, and To Placeholder are available for the Post Meta(value type Date) filter.

Get Options

The value of the “Get Options” field defines if you want the filter values to be populated automatically or manually enter the filter options. In the PRO version, you can configure the filter options using the Manual Options table.

Order By

For the taxonomy filter, the available options are ID, Name, Slug, Count, and Include/Entry.

For the post author filter, the available options are ID, Name, Count, and Include/Entry.

The “Order By” field for post meta filter is a pro feature. The available options when “Value Type” is “Text” are Value, Label, and Count. When getting the options automatically, you can specify the “Order Type” of meta values to either Alphabetical or Numerical.

When getting options automatically, you can include the terms and sort the options by the “Include” order. When you enter the filter options manually, you can sort the options by the “Entry” order.

Limit Options

The field is only available when getting the options automatically.

Limit Options for Taxonomy Filter

In the taxonomy filter, you have several options to limit the available terms: Include, Exclude, Child of, and Parent only. The options “Child of” and “Parent only” are applicable when the taxonomy is hierarchical, meaning it has parent-child relationships.

When using the “Terms to include” and “Terms to exclude” options, selecting the “Include children” checkbox means you want to include the child terms along with the selected terms. This allows users to filter by both the selected terms and their child terms.

When using the “Parent Term” option, selecting a parent term will make the children of that term available as filter options. The “Direct Children” checkbox specifies that only the first-level children will be displayed as filter options.

If you choose “Parent only” as the value, only the first-level terms (parent terms) will be available for selection in the filter. This option excludes the child terms from the filter options.

Limit Options for Post Author Filter

In the post author filter, you have three options to limit the available authors: Include, Exclude, and Role.

If you choose “Include,” you can specify the authors that will be included as filter options. Only the selected authors will be displayed in the filter for users to choose from.

If you choose “Exclude,” you can specify the authors that will be excluded from the filter options. These authors will not be shown in the filter, allowing users to filter by other available authors.

Alternatively, if you select “Role,” you can choose specific roles. The filter will display authors who have at least one of the selected roles. This allows you to filter by authors based on their assigned roles.

Manual Options

When displaying the filter options using color or image swatches, or you want to use a custom label or tooltip for the filter option, you need to use the manual options table. You can customize the filter options as per your need using the manual options table.

For the taxonomy or post-author filter, you can leave the Label and Tooltip fields empty if you do not want to modify them.

Advanced Options

NameDescription
Show titleWhether to show the filter title before the filter options.
Enable accordionPlace more filters by collapsing the filter options.
Accordion stateDetermines how the accordion should appear initially.
Help TextShow additional information in a tooltip. Supports basic markup.
Search FieldAdds a search field to narrow down the filter options.
PlaceholderChange the default placeholder for the search input field.
Reduce heightEnable this if you want to reduce the filter height.
Filter max-heightSet the filter container max height in px.
Number of visible optionsShow a “Show More/Show Less” toggle after this many options.
Show in Active FiltersDetermines if we show the selected options in active filters.

Search Field

For “Select”, and “Multiselect” display types, the search field is available when the ComboBox is enabled from plugin settings. In the “Multiselect” display type, “Search Field” is always enabled.

When showing the options of a taxonomy filter in a hierarchical view, “Search Field” is not possible.

Placeholder

Setting a placeholder text for the Search Field is a PRO feature.

In Select and Multiselect display types, the placeholder is not available.

Reduce height

You can limit the height of the filter block in two ways.

Filter max-height

One is settings the max height of the filter block. So you need to scroll down to see the full options in the filter.

Soft Limit

Another is to show the first (n) options by default. You can show/hide the hidden options in the filter by clicking a toggle. Soft limit is not possible when showing the options of a taxonomy filter in a hierarchical view.

Components

Active Filters, Reset Button, and Results Count are the components in a form. You can also show these components in the front end using shortcodes, please see the shortcodes guide.

Managing Filters

Add a Filter

On the edit screen of a Form, click the Add Filter button, and configure the filter settings. Finally, Save the filter.

Remove a Filter

On the edit screen of a Form, open the filter by clicking on the filter bar if it’s not already opened. Click the Delete button on the bottom-left, and a confirmation tooltip will appear, confirm it, and the filter will be deleted. Finally, Save the filter.

Filters Order

You can change the order of the filters in the form by dragging the filter to the top or bottom. Don’t forget to save the form.

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